Google Analytics Intro for TCPRA

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

Google AnalyticsJust Do It

Anna Belle Leiserson

November 7, 2008

Vanderbilt-IngramCancer Center

3 web secretsfor senior management

Vanderbilt-IngramCancer Center3 Web Secrets for Senior Management

1. There is no quick fix


2. The closest you can get is…

mastering web analytics


3. Almost no one in the university world is doing web analytics .…

Yet.

So why not make it you?

Vanderbilt-IngramCancer CenterHow Am I Going to Get You to Do It?

1.What is “analytics”?

2.What’s so special about Google’s flavor of analytics?

3.How can YOU set up Google Analytics?

4.How can you do it well?

Vanderbilt-IngramCancer CenterWhat’s it all about, Alfie?

Once upon a time….


Web analytics meant….


• Log files

• Hits

• Pageviews

• Visitors

• - in other words –

• The numbers


Then analytics meant …


• WebTrends

• Analog

• AW Stats

• Urchin

• - in other words –

• The application


Now analytics means….


The process of matching

core goals with

objective numbers


So what?

Vanderbilt-IngramCancer CenterWhy Does It Matter?

1. Hypothesis:

A good website is a must for any college or university


How do you measure website goodness?


Any number of ways….

See Alertbox Oct. 6, 2008


But…


Analytics is the easiestway to measure site goodness


2. Analytics moves website improvement

past opinionsinto hard data


“Watch what users do;don’t just listen to what they say”

- Jakob Nielsen


3. It bridges the gap betweenweb professionals andsenior management


Without analytics


Design

Function

Organization

are typically based on…


HIPPOs

(Highest Paid Person’s Opinion)


But that’s just Analytics…

What’s so special about Google Analytics?

Vanderbilt-IngramCancer CenterGoogle Analytics rules because it’s

• Free

• Easy for techies to set up

• Numerical and numbers talk

• Easy to share

• Web 2.0 glamorous


In fact, it’s so successful…


Now it’s what’s confused with “analytics”


How do you start withGoogle Analytics?

Vanderbilt-IngramCancer CenterGet Going with GA

Step 1 (You)

Set up a “Google Account”

(the same as a gmail account)


Step 2 (You)

Set up a “Google Analytics Account”


Step 3 (You)

Copy and paste “Google Analytics Tracking Code” into a text file and

email this to IT


It will look something like this:<script type="text/javascript">var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));</script><script type="text/javascript">var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-1089968-2");pageTracker._trackPageview();</script>


Step 4 (IT)

Pastes code as close to ending </body> tag as possible

in as many pages as possible


Step 5 (IT)

Uploads to server; lets you know


Step 6 (You)

Test the next day (or later)


Step 7 (You - the next day)

If test is not working, loop back to step 5

If working ….


Step 8 (You)

Dive into analytics


Steps Without webmaster

With webmaster

1. Google account You Webby and you

2. Google Analytics (GA) account

You Webby (will share with you at step 8)

3. GA Tracking Code You Webby

4. Deploy code IT Webby

5. Upload to server IT Webby

6. Test You Webby

7. If not working IT step 4 Webby step 4

8. Dive into analytics You Webby and you


Google Analytics Best Practices

Vanderbilt-IngramCancer CenterGA Best Practices

1. Get a backup

Don’t be the only one with admin rights for a Google Analytics account


2. Set website goals


Possible ways to develop goals. Think about…

• Why did you start your site to begin with?

• What are the pages or sections you care about most?

• What audiences are most important

• What is your strategic plan?


3. Learn your tool


4. Track as many pages as possible within a subdomain,e.g. intranet.vicc.org


Set up filters to limit


Extra Credit

Use multiple metric tools

But…

Don’t switch!


The Limits of Google Analytics

Vanderbilt-IngramCancer CenterThe Limits of GA

• Needs time to gather initial data

• Generates a sea of data

• Code installation can be problematic

• Third party so squirrely things can happen

• Doesn’t track PDFs & multimedia files

• 25 month limit

• Won’t work if cookies are off

• Won’t work for password-protected pages

• Limited to 5 million pageviews / month


Top 3 Google Analytics Reports

Vanderbilt-IngramCancer CenterTop 3 GA Reports

1. The Dashboard

Tweak it

Schedule emails


2. Entrance keywords


3. Top Content

Including Bounce Rates

Vanderbilt-IngramCancer CenterTop GA Reports

Other possibilities

• Referring sites

• Browsers

• Profiles with filters

• Focus on particular directory or page

• Eliminate your own IP address

• Divide internal and external traffic


Resources• THE place to start

http://www.google.com/analytics/

• Searchable manual and referencehttp://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/

• Brian Clifton’sAdvanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics

• Happywebdiva.com


The end?

Not quite….


A challenge for you


Have Google Analyticsin full operation by

Jan. 1, 2009

Google Analytics Intro for TCPRA

Technology

Transcript of Google Analytics Intro for TCPRA